Palestinian killed by Israeli forces after hitting 1 with his car at settlement bus stop

April 19, 2017 4:53 P.M. (Updated: April 20, 2017 12:54 P.M.)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces at a junction near the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion in the southern occupied West Bank on Wednesday afternoon.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that a Palestinian vehicle hit a bus stop at the junction, injuring an Israeli civilian, adding that Israeli forces in the area shot at the driver, who they described as an "assailant."

However, photographs of the scene published by Israeli media showed that the Palestinian vehicle had seemingly collided with the back of a bus.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed later in the afternoon that the Palestinian succumbed to wounds sustained when he was shot by soldiers at the scene, identifying him as Suhaib Moussa Mashour Mashahra, 21, from the Jerusalem-district village of al-Sawahira.

Official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Palestinian Red Crescent emergency services head Muhammad Awwad as saying that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian medics from reaching Mashahra and treating him, while the army spokesperson told Ma'an that the Palestinian had been treated by army medics on the scene and evacuated to an unspecified hospital.

Israeli emergency medical service Magen David Adom said in a statement that it treated a 60-year-old Israeli who suffered from a light-to-moderate head injury at a junction on Route 60 at around 4 p.m.

According to Ma'an documentation, Mashahra is the 19th Palestinian to have been killed by Israelis since the beginning of the year, 12 of whom were 25 years old or younger.

Israel has come under repeated criticism for using lethal force on Palestinians who posed no threat or could have been detained through nonlethal means, with the Palestinian leadership, rights groups, and the United Nations condemning Israeli forces of carrying out "extrajudicial executions."

Though Israeli forces have claimed that a number of Palestinians were carrying out attacks when they were killed, Palestinians and rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases.

A photo published on Israeli media reportedly showing Mashahra after he was shot by Israeli forces.